What is a Nation? - On the Life and Death of Peoples

Gango, Gabor

Gábor Gángó, professor of history, asks his audience, "What is a nation?" then gives answers based in different historical periods. The emergence of the modern nation state in the 18th and 19th century gave rise to the ideology of nationalism, manifesting in cultural and political aspirations throughout Europe. Hungarian nationalism is rooted in the times of the Habsburg Empire, bringing the term "political nation" to the forefront of late 19th century political vernacular. After the transition of 1989, the amended Constitution declared "the people" as the source of sovereignty, however the priorities of modern European politics require, Gángó asserts, further development of a democratic political community in Hungary.

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